Greening your gadgets and lifestyle can be not only fun but money-saving
as well. Such is the motto of Joe Hutsko's new book Green Gadgets for
Dummies from Wiley, a title billed as a friendly reference for exploring
the environmental and financial benefits of green gadgets. Green gadgets
encompass everything from iPods to energy-efficient home entertainment
devices to solar laptop chargers and crank-powered gizmos. The book
explains how to research green gadgets, calculate energy consumption,
make a smart purchasing decision, use products you already own in a more
environmentally friendly way, and bid farewell to electronics that zap
both energy and money. Finally, the book covers product labels and how
to avoid “greenwashing”—that is the overselling of environmental benefits.

CoroWare Technologies announced the Explorer, an all-terrain robot
designed and optimized for conducting R&D into new robotic applications
that operate in unstructured, outdoor environments. Built on a ruggedized
chassis, the Explorer functions well outside the lab, navigating rough
terrain and resisting environmental elements. The Explorer's camera,
wheel encoders and GPS enable the robot to examine the environment
while the fully articulated four-wheel drive ensures the Explorer can
navigate curbs, steps and inclines. By including a 2.0GHz PC-class
processor, 80GB disk storage space and Ubuntu Linux with support for
Player Project pre-installed, Explorer is ready to support any software
the developer desires. Explorer comes standard with four-wheel drive,
802.11n Wi-Fi, GPS and 1600x1200 color camera. Expansion capabilities
exist via extra USB, RS-232, digital I/O and analog inputs. Options
include wheel encoders, a pan/tilt/zoom camera and a 64-bit dual-core
motherboard.